The present invention relates in general to fabricating semiconductor devices, and particularly to a new method for fabricating a diffusion barrier layer consisting of a titanium/aluminum/nitride alloy.
Integrated circuits, commonly referred to as semiconductor devices, are fabricated from materials with varying electrical properties. The materials fall into one of three general groupings: electrical conductors, such as aluminum; electrical semiconductors, such as silicon; and electrical nonconductors, such as silicon dioxide. One step in manufacturing semiconductor devices is metallization, which refers to the formation of metal films used for interconnections, ohmic contacts, and rectifying metal/semiconductor contacts. Aluminum and tungsten are commonly used for metallization due to their low resistivity. In state-of-the art semiconductor device architecture it is common for the metallization process to result in interfaces between silicon and the metal. It is well known that even at room temperature the metal and silicon will inter-diffuse over time. The dissolution of silicon into the metal also occurs when the device is annealed because the elements are subject to an elevated temperature, causing a rapid interdiffusion of the metal and the silicon. Interdiffusion of the two materials changes the semiconductive properties of the silicon and causes defective devices.
In order to control the interdiffusion it is common practice to manufacture a diffusion barrier at metal/silicon interfaces in semiconductor devices. One method used to minimize the dissolution of the silicon is to add silicon to the metal by co-sputtering until the amount of silicon contained by the metal satisfies the solubility requirement. Another method of satisfying the silicon requirements of the metal film is to deposit the film on a layer of doped polysilicon. A third method is to introduce a barrier metal between the metal film and the silicon substrate. To be effective the barrier metal must form a low contact resistance with silicon, it must not react with silicon, and its deposition and formation must be compatible with the overall process. A thin film of titanium nitride or titanium tungsten is commonly used in this method and provides an adequate barrier. These and other conventional diffusion barriers, while generally effective at room temperature, tend to fail at more elevated temperatures. Many of the preferred semiconductor fabrication processes, such as deposition, reflow, and annealing, require elevated temperatures. Conventional diffusion barriers can therefore limit the range of processes available for fabricating a semiconductor device.
More recently, it has been found that an alloy material composed of titanium, aluminum, and nitrogen is a promising material for barrier applications in semiconductor manufacturing. Titanium/aluminum/nitride has a lower resistivity than titanium nitride and is more compatible with high temperature processing. This material is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,306, granted Jul. 27, 1993 to Meikle et al., entitled xe2x80x9cTITANIUM/ALUMINUM/NITROGEN MATERIAL FOR SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICESxe2x80x9d, and assigned to the same assignee, the details of which are incorporated by reference. Meikle teaches a method of manufacturing titanium/aluminum/nitride by cosputtering titanium and aluminum or sputtering a titanium/aluminum alloy in a nitrogen or nitrogen/argon ambient. Titanium/aluminum/nitride is more effective than conventional barriers, especially at elevated temperatures. The reactive sputter process is, however, slower and more expensive than other conventional deposition techniques. With the ever-growing demand for semiconductor devices and the need to minimize manufacturing costs there is a need to be able to manufacture a titanium/aluminum/nitride diffusion barrier using conventional deposition techniques.
The advantages of building smaller semiconductor devices containing more circuitry are well known: electronic equipment becomes less bulky, reducing the number of solder or plug connections improves reliability, assembly and packaging costs are minimized, and circuit performance is improved, in particular higher clock speeds. In order to manufacture smaller devices with more circuits, each of the individual circuit elements are smaller. This creates a need for a diffusion barrier which is thinner while retaining its effectiveness at elevated temperatures. It also creates a need for materials with low resistivity in order to minimize the power requirements.
Silicides make up one class of materials which have low resistivity and form a very stable interface with common substrate materials. Titanium silicide in particular is a silicide which has been shown to provide very low resistivity. Silicides such as titanium silicide are expected to play an increasingly important role in future metallization. Current processes known in the art for manufacturing titanium silicide include depositing the titanium on polysilicon (or silicon) and sintering the structure to form a suicide, by co-depositing the titanium and silicon by simultaneous sputtering or evaporation, or through chemical vapor deposition.
The present invention describes a new technique of forming titanium/aluminum/nitride without having to resort to the slower and more expensive reactive sputter process. Furthermore, the new method has the added benefit of allowing simultaneous formation of titanium silicide which provides low contact resistance when the material is sputtered onto a silicon substrate. As a result the number of manufacturing steps is decreased.
The present invention provides a titanium/aluminum/nitride diffusion barrier for preventing interdiffusion at a metal/silicon interface within a semi-conductor device. A titanium silicide layer between the diffusion barrier and the substrate is also created at the same time the diffusion barrier is manufactured.
According to one aspect of the method of the present invention, a semiconductor device is provided, the device comprising a substrate, a contact layer, and a diffusion barrier layer. The contact layer is interposed between the substrate and the barrier layer. The substrate is silicon, but in other embodiments may employ any other form of silicon or silicon compound or any other doping of silicon that is known in the art. The contact layer consists of titanium silicide, and the diffusion barrier layer is comprised of a titanium, aluminum, and nitrogen alloy. In one embodiment the percentage of materials in the barrier layer are: 0 to 25% aluminum, 25 to 55% titanium, and 40 to 55% nitrogen. The thickness of the diffusion barrier is approximately 20% of the as-deposited film thickness. The thickness of the contact layer is approximately 150 to 250% of the as-deposited film thickness.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a process of fabricating a semiconductor device is provided, comprising the steps of preparing a semiconductor substrate and then forming a layer of titanium/aluminum alloy over the semiconductor substrate. The alloy is nitridized by annealing in a nitrogen-containing gas ambient. According to another aspect of the method of the present invention, the nitridizing step comprises furnace annealing in a nitrogen ambient. According to yet another aspect of the method of the present invention, the nitridizing step comprises rapid thermal annealing in a nitrogen-containing gas ambient. In one embodiment the rapid thermal anneal time is between 0.1 and 2 minutes. In another embodiment the anneal temperature is between 500 and 900xc2x0 C., and in yet another embodiment the temperature is maintained at 700xc2x0 C. The nitridizing step produces a titanium silicide layer interposed between the substrate and a titanium/aluminum/nitride diffusion barrier layer.
The invention provides a method of manufacturing a diffusion barrier which provides better protection against diffusion than conventional diffusion barriers. The invention provides the added advantage of creating a low resistivity contact layer with no additional manufacturing steps.